Foreign
Terrorism: Finnish court sets May 2025 deadline for Ekpa’s trial
The Finnish government had last week announced the arrest of Ekpa alongside four others on suspicion of terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and terrorism financing.
Finnish police confirmed that Ekpa, described as the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile, allegedly used social media to promote violence in the South-East region, targeting civilians and authorities.
According to local publication Yle, Ekpa was remanded in custody by the Päijät-Häme District Court on charges of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.
The publication reported that the Finnish Central Criminal Police confirmed the arrests in a statement last Thursday, noting that the other suspects were apprehended for allegedly financing terrorist activities.
Giving an update on the case in response to The PUNCH enquiries, detective Laaksonen noted that the investigation was ongoing, and no further details could be disclosed.
Asked when Ekpa’s case would come up in court, he replied, “Due to the ongoing investigation, no further details can be disclosed.
“The date for bringing up possible charges by the prosecution was set by the district court to May 2025.”
He noted that Ekpa and the Finnish authorities may request a re-evaluation after two weeks.
“In a basic situation regarding the remand, the next possible hearing can be held no earlier than two weeks from the previous hearing, should the parties in question seek for the matter to be re-evaluated by the district court,” Laaksonen explained.
The case has drawn significant international attention, with Finnish authorities confirming that cross-border cooperation is integral to the investigation.
However, officials have refrained from providing further information about the nature or extent of the international collaboration.
“International cooperation is part of the investigation due to the nature of the case but no further comments can be given on the subject at this point,” the NBI stated.
Ekpa gained notoriety for his calls to boycott Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, which led to violent enforcement measures and attacks on residents.
He was first arrested in February 2023 for inciting violence and issuing sit-at-home orders to Igbos and other South-East residents.
The suspect’s activities prompted global petitions from Nigerians urging the Finnish and Nigerian governments, as well as the European Union, to take action.
In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Leena Pylvanainen, to demand Finland’s cooperation in addressing the threats posed by Ekpa.
Last Thursday, the District Court of Päijät-Häme, Finland, ordered that Ekpa be imprisoned “with probable cause on suspicion of public incitement to commit a crime with terrorist intent.”
Ekpa, a Finnish citizen of Nigerian origin, was accused of inciting crimes with terrorist intent, while the other suspects face charges of financing terrorism.
As a prominent figure in the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, he has championed a controversial call for an independent Biafran state.
His rhetoric escalated in recent years, with explicit endorsements of violence and disruptions to Nigerian elections.
Finnish authorities have linked Ekpa to coordinated attacks targeting civilians and the security forces, with investigations tracing some of these activities back to 2021.
His use of social media as a platform for incitement and fundraising is a central element of the case.
The sit-at-home orders enforced by the ESN had caused devastating economic consequences in the South-East.
According to reports, the region has lost over ₦4trn in two years due to these activities and the resulting insecurity.
On the heels of Ekpa’s detention, the Federal Government said it would monitor the legal proceedings in Finland.
“The ministry will continue to monitor the legal proceedings and provide further updates as the case progresses,” the statement read.
Checks by The PUNCH revealed that his X handle (@simon_ekpa) had been inactive for seven days.
Meanwhile, the Senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has hailed the arrest of Ekpa in Finland as a significant step toward curbing violence in the South-East.
Abaribe, who spoke in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, expressed hope that Ekpa’s detention would discourage those instigating unrest in the region.
Abaribe accused Ekpa and his followers of exploiting the Biafra agitation to perpetrate crimes, deviating from the peaceful ideals of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
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“The arrest of Simon Ekpa is something that is very welcome because this will tell all those people at home, who are purveyors of violence and instigated by Simon Ekpa that he actually said that he is just a content creator and not a serious person,” he said.
The senator stressed that IPOB originally sought a non-violent referendum but lamented how criminals have co-opted the movement to unleash mayhem.
“And what has happened is that a legitimate quest by the IPOB seeking a non-violent referendum was turned by all these kidnappers because they have found a key because, to average Igbo people, when you say Biafra, you must be doing the right thing.
“Whatever they say they are doing in the south-east is not supported by anybody in the south-east. All you have is a band of criminals.
“Also, our security agencies find it difficult to discern between a criminal and somebody who is saying he is doing agitation. So, every little thing that happens, they would say it is IPOB,” Abaribe explained.
Speaking on the purported plot by IPOB to declare the Republic of Biafra on December 2, the counsel for the group, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, called for peace and unity in the South-East, urging those involved in violence and false agitations to abandon their divisive actions.
The lawyer dismissed rumours circulating on social media about the planned Biafran declaration, reassuring that the day would pass without incident.
Ejiofor in a statement on Monday advised residents of the region to reject the baseless claims surrounding the event, emphasizing that freedom cannot be achieved through violence.
The lawyer cautioned those being misled by Ekpa, whom he described as a “serial fraudster.”
He urged individuals deceived by Ekpa’s claims to reconsider their actions and cease supporting the false narrative.
He reflected on the criticism he had faced in the past for opposing these claims, noting that time has proven him right.
“I have always maintained that lies, deceit, fraud, treachery, and criminality have an expiration date. When the truth reaches its breaking point, it is inevitable: It is game over!
“To those still clinging to the baseless December declaration, rest assured, December will come and go uneventfully.
“In the past, when fanatical claims about fighter jets and warships were peddled as obvious tools for self-aggrandizement by the serial fraudster in Finland, I warned those willing to listen that they have been swindled.
“My stance earned me severe criticism, threats, and defamation. But today, where do we stand? It is time for those who profess to have been deceived by an unrepentant serial fraudster to pause, reflect, and retreat,” he admonished.
Ejiofor further emphasized the need for peace in Igbo land, calling on the people to work towards reconciliation and avoid violence in their quest for justice.
He acknowledged the political marginalisation of the Igbo people but insisted that true liberation could only be achieved through peaceful and lawful means.
He added, “Let us restore peace in our land, so the custodians of Igbo heritage can seek ways to appease the gods for the atrocities committed against our people.
“There is indeed no gainsaying that Ndigbos are deeply marginalised in the Nigerian political setting and system, however, true struggles for the liberation of the oppressed must reject violence, fraud, criminality, and abuse as strategies.
“Freedom can never be won through such means. There’s absolutely no wisdom in cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.”
Investigators have recovered the flight recorders from an Amazon cargo plane that crashed while attempting to land at Miami International Airport, as authorities continue efforts to recover victims and determine what caused the deadly incident.
Five people were killed and five others seriously injured when the Boeing 767-300, operated by 21 Air, overran the runway shortly before 2pm local time on Sunday.
The aircraft, which had two crew members aboard, was arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, on its third flight of the day when it crashed.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the plane struck airport navigational equipment before breaking through a perimeter fence and hitting two vehicles—a white Ford cleaning van carrying seven people and a Toyota Corolla with three occupants.
The aircraft eventually came to rest about 1,300 feet (394 metres) beyond the runway.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said investigators were still in the fact-finding stage and warned against drawing conclusions about the cause of the crash.
She described the scene as “devastating” and said the immediate priority was recovering the victims.
“The investigation and access to the aircraft, as well as evidence, can wait,” Homendy said.
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered and will be transported to NTSB headquarters for detailed analysis.
Investigators are expected to examine the aircraft’s flight history, the crew’s experience and training, radar information, aircraft performance, mechanical systems and engines.
A meteorologist will also assess weather conditions at the time of the crash.
Earlier analysis by BBC Verify indicated that an active thunderstorm was near the airport shortly before the incident, with winds reportedly gusting to about 26 knots (48km/h).
The NTSB will also investigate whether the runway should have been equipped with an Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS), which is designed to help stop aircraft that overrun runways.
Homendy described the issue as a key part of the investigation.
The NTSB has appealed to members of the public who may have photographs or videos of the crash to submit them to investigators.
The agency said it would issue safety recommendations at the conclusion of the investigation, with Homendy stressing the need to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Meanwhile, two of Miami International Airport’s four runways remained closed following the crash, with passengers warned to expect further disruption.
The incident occurred during the US Labor Day holiday weekend, one of the country’s busiest travel periods, resulting in flight cancellations and disruption to aircraft and crew movements.
Amazon expressed grief over the loss of lives and said it was working closely with authorities.
21 Air, the company operating the aircraft, also expressed condolences to the victims and their families and said it was cooperating fully with the investigation.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
A 68-year-old British woman, Dawn Ottewell, has claimed that her 31-year-old Nigerian husband, Bright Emokpae, disappeared from their home months after moving to the United Kingdom on a spouse visa.
Ottewell, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, told The Sun UK that she met Emokpae, an Edo State native, on dating platforms Tinder and Plenty of Fish in 2021 while she was experiencing loneliness and depression.
According to her account, Emokpae initially introduced himself as “Brian Thomas” before later revealing that he was a fashion student from Benin City.
The relationship reportedly developed through regular video calls, after which Ottewell travelled to northern Cyprus, where Emokpae was studying on a student visa.
The couple married at a registry office in Nicosia on March 22, 2022, with two Turkish friends acting as their best man and maid of honour.
Following the wedding, Emokpae returned to Nigeria to process his UK spouse visa. About a year later, after the visa was granted, Ottewell travelled to Heathrow Airport to welcome him to Britain.
However, Ottewell said their relationship deteriorated after his arrival in the UK.
She alleged that Emokpae became increasingly distant, regularly asked her for money and refused to contribute to household expenses, while allegedly sending money to Nigeria.
Her 72-year-old brother, Rory, reportedly helped Emokpae secure a job with a local door manufacturing company.
The couple separated briefly in October 2023 but later reconciled, about six months after the separation. Ottewell said the reconciliation occurred after she received a £63,000 settlement following what she described as a botched NHS prolapse operation.
She now says she regrets taking him back.
Ottewell recalled that shortly before Christmas 2024, she went on a £2,000 Caribbean cruise with her brother. When she returned home, she allegedly discovered that Emokpae had left.
She said he has not returned since and has blocked her on social media, leaving her unable to contact him.
Ottewell believes her estranged husband may now be living in Scotland, where she suspects he runs an online clothing business.
“He’s done a runner and is refusing to sign the divorce papers because I believe he wants to cling on to his spouse visa,” she said.
The woman also expressed concern about what could happen to her estate if she dies before their marriage is legally dissolved.
“My biggest fear is that I’ll die before this is sorted out and he’ll run off with the money my three children should inherit,” she said.
Ottewell said she does not currently have a will and fears Emokpae could potentially make claims against some of her assets, including jewellery, cash and furniture.
She is now seeking assistance from Citizens Advice to help locate her estranged husband and serve him with divorce papers.
“I feel I’m being used,” Ottewell said.
She also advised people to exercise caution when entering relationships that involve international partners, saying she believed her husband had married her primarily to obtain a UK visa.
However, her claims about Emokpae’s motives have not been independently established.
A UK-based Nigerian taxi driver, Kolawole Erunkulu, 45, has been sentenced to six years in prison after falling asleep at the wheel and fatally hitting a 59-year-old man.
Erunkulu, from Bexleyheath, was driving an Audi on August 17, 2025, when he suffered a “microsleep”, causing the vehicle to leave the road and collide with Philip Dray, who had stopped in a lay-by.
Dray was getting into his Volkswagen after taking a break from driving when he was struck.
According to reports, Erunkulu had worked for about 12 hours on the day of the crash, taking only short breaks. In the three days before the fatal collision, he had driven for 53 hours, with his longest rest period being seven hours.
Footage from inside his vehicle showed Erunkulu falling asleep briefly before the Audi swerved off the road and hit Dray. The vehicle continued moving for about 10 seconds after the collision.
A microsleep is a brief episode of sleep that can last only a few seconds, during which the brain fails to properly process information.
Erunkulu pleaded guilty in June 2026 to causing death by dangerous driving.
He was sentenced to six years in prison and disqualified from driving for eight years. He will also be required to pass an extended driving test if he seeks to regain his licence.
Sentencing him, Her Honour Judge Lees said the footage demonstrated that Erunkulu was extremely tired and should have known that he was not fit to drive.
“The footage shows the defendant was extremely tired and, in my view, has continued to drive when he must have known that. He was driving commercially,” the judge said.
She added that the incident could have been prevented if Erunkulu had stopped driving and slept.
Acting Detective Inspector Rob Baldwin of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit said the case highlighted the potentially devastating consequences of driving while fatigued.
He said Erunkulu had worked long hours with insufficient rest, resulting in a “sleep debt”.
“Fatigue can seriously impair a driver’s ability to remain alert and react safely, particularly during the early hours of the morning when the natural drive to sleep is at its strongest,” Baldwin said.
He urged motorists who feel tired not to continue driving.
Dray’s family described him as “an amazing partner and man” who was dependable, caring and respectful.
His sister said Philip was a quiet man who cared deeply about others and had spent his life as a careful and conscientious driver.
“The fact that he, someone who worked every day to keep others safe, had his life taken in such a way makes this loss even more incomprehensible and tragic,” she said.
Dray’s partner described him as “a sweet, gentle, and caring man” and her “soulmate”.
She said his death had left an “enormous emotional and physical void” in her life.
“He would ring me several times a day whenever he was waiting for a client or at lunch, just to see how my day was going. I miss those calls very much,” she said.
Foreign
UK: 11 Drug Couriers Convicted Over £13.8m Cannabis Smuggling Plot Through Birmingham Airport
Eleven drug couriers have been convicted for their roles in a plot to smuggle cannabis worth an estimated £13.8 million into the United Kingdom through Birmingham Airport.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) investigated the group after Border Force officers arrested them in August 2024 and seized 460kg of cannabis concealed in 22 suitcases.
According to an NCA statement published on Wednesday, the couriers had travelled to the UK from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on the same flights.
The convicted couriers were identified as Carsten Kyei, 21, from Newham, East London; Bradley Lloyd, 27, and Claire McCullough, 36, both from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester; Lewis Ross, 35, from Bolton, Lancashire; Nathan Vitorino, 26, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire; Ryan Boachie, 32, from Edmonton, North London; Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham; Tasia Nelson, 22, from Newquay, Cornwall; Jaden Ramen, 23, from Colliers Wood, South London; Paige Crisp, 24, from Broomhall, Worcester; and Jamal Clarke, 22, from Walthamstow, London.
Birmingham Crown Court heard that each courier had two suitcases, with each suitcase containing about 20kg of cannabis.
The suitcases were reportedly so heavy that the couriers had to pay excess baggage charges at Bangkok Airport to have them placed in the aircraft hold.
The cannabis had been vacuum-packed and concealed beneath a thin layer of clothing. Eight of the suitcases also contained Apple AirTag trackers, which NCA investigators established were connected to the same Apple ID account.
Suspicion was raised after Border Force established that four passengers had travelled from Birmingham to Charles de Gaulle Airport earlier on August 9, 2024, each carrying two large suitcases.
Border Force officers subsequently fully staffed the Nothing to Declare channel and intercepted the group.
One of the couriers had also been instructed by an associate: “my man gonna be on the other side – don’t leave the airport until you see him leave.”
Kyei and Vitorino were convicted on May 26, 2026, following a three-week trial, while Ross and Lloyd changed their pleas to guilty during the trial.
Crisp, Nelson and Ramen were convicted on Wednesday, August 19, following a four-week trial.
McCullough, Boachie, Olumoyegun and Clarke had previously pleaded guilty.
Those convicted on August 19 will be sentenced on October 22, while the others will be sentenced on September 3.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer Paul Boniface said the operation involved extensive planning.
“A huge amount of planning went into this sophisticated attempt to bring hundreds of kilos of cannabis into the UK,” Boniface said.
He said the coordination of flights and luggage demonstrated “the lengths criminals will go to in order to hide their offending.”
“With thanks to Border Force, we were able confiscate these drugs and stop criminals from benefitting financially from the damage they cause,” he added.
Boniface warned people against agreeing to smuggle drugs into the UK, saying anyone who attempted to do so would face justice.
Adam Chatfield, Head of Border Force Midlands Command, said the convictions should serve as a warning to anyone considering transporting cannabis into the UK.
He said the young people involved now faced serious consequences, including criminal records that could affect their employment opportunities and future prospects.
Victoria Norman of the Crown Prosecution Service said prosecutors and investigators had pieced together evidence of a coordinated attempt to smuggle large quantities of drugs into the country.
She said the evidence resulted in six members of the group pleading guilty, while the others were convicted following trial.
An Australia-based Nigerian, Foluso Omole, is facing trial over his alleged role in a $5m fraud involving the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Omole was arrested by operatives of the Australian Federal Police at Adelaide Airport last Friday while allegedly attempting to flee Australia.
According to the report, Omole had allegedly “cut ties” in Adelaide and was preparing to travel to Nigeria before his arrest, a court heard.
The 38-year-old appeared before the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, where his bail application was refused following allegations that he had attempted to leave Australia for Nigeria.
The court heard that Omole, a dual Australian and Nigerian citizen, had “purchased a one-way ticket to Nigeria” before his arrest.
A prosecutor also told the court that Omole appeared to have “sent, over the course of his offending, significant funds back to Nigeria”, where his wife resides.
The report stated that Omole was working as an NDIS coordinator and operating two businesses that employed several staff at the time of the alleged offences.
The prosecutor reportedly told the court that Omole allegedly received information “improperly” from a woman employed by the National Disability Insurance Agency over a period of six years and “used that information to obtain benefit fraudulently”.
The woman, who has also been charged in connection with the alleged fraud, was expected to appear in court on Thursday.
However, disputing the allegation that Omole intended to flee Australia, his lawyer, Mark Twiggs, told the court that his client had informed him that he planned to travel to London on a “return ticket” purchased before any raid on the woman’s home.
“The charges are denied. He has no record at all.
“My client has good reason why he should be given bail,” Twiggs said.
Omole is yet to enter pleas to one count of dealing with proceeds of an indictable crime worth more than $1m and one count of dealing with money or property valued at more than $1m that is allegedly the proceeds of crime.
Magistrate Patrick Hill, however, refused bail, citing concerns that Omole posed a flight risk.
“Whether it was a one-way ticket to Nigeria or a return ticket to London does make a difference as to the court’s assessment of whether or not Mr Omole is a flight risk.
“For the other reasons put forward by the prosecution, in any event, I remain concerned that he is a risk of flight and the bail application is refused,” Hill said.
In April, a Nigerian couple, Luciana and Femi Akanbi, were jailed in the United Kingdom for their involvement in a similar fraud scheme.
The couple reportedly used personal data belonging to Transport for London employees to carry out a tax rebate fraud scheme that cost the public purse more than £433,000.
The fraud, which was carried out between September 2021 and January 2022, was reportedly based on sensitive information belonging to at least 40 TfL workers, including passport details, National Insurance numbers and bank records. The information was used to submit 139 fraudulent tax refund claims.
Court proceedings at Woolwich Crown Court revealed that Luciana Akanbi, 38, who worked in TfL’s human resources department, had access to the personal records of about 107 employees, which were later exploited for the scheme.
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